Swear on a stack of bibles, Gov. Bill Ritter insisted, tongue firmly in cheek: “This is the way breakfast looks every day at my house: Champagne, linens, fine china …”
Food-wise, it was a pretty fancy spread that was set out for Colorado’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention — and assorted other party bigwigs — on Sunday morning. It was hosted by the state Democratic Party, and held on the terraced gardens at the Governor’s Mansion.
The menu was planned and executed by the mansion staff and included two varieties of quiche, crispy bacon, croissants, bagels, fresh fruit and assorted pastries. Moet Chandon Champagne was served plain or as the base for mimosas and bellinis; Smirnoff and Ketel One vodkas were mixed into bloody Marys and Coors beer was on ice for those preferring a wake-me-up brewski. Coffee, tea and iced pitchers of orange, grapefruit and tomato juices also were set out under the canopies that dotted the garden terraces.
Guests were welcomed by Elbra Wedgeworth, president of the convention’s Denver Host Committee, and Pat Waak, head of the Colorado Democratic Party. U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar; U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette; Lt.Gov. Barbara O’Brien; state Treasurer Cary Kennedy; state Rep. Rosemary Marshall; and superdelegate Federico Pe~na were among the early arrivals, along with attorneys Hubert Farbes, Manuel Martinez and Harvey Steinberg; bankers Pat Cortez and Hassan Salem; CH2M Hill boss Ralph Peterson; and KBNO Radio’s Zee Ferrufin.
Delegates, as you’d imagine, were out in force. We spotted Jacqueline St. Joan, Paul Lopez, Monisha Merchant, Blanca O’Leary, Jonathan Singer, Nathan Vanderschaaf, Jere Kennedy and Rebecca McClellan.
Delegate Marzette Bedford-Billinghurst said she’s staying at the Grand Hyatt hotel and is really enjoying the celebrity sightings there. “The first person I saw when I stepped out of my car was Katie Couric,” she said. “I’ve worked in Washington, D.C., around some very high-profile people, but this is truly exciting.”
Wedgeworth, a vice president at Denver Health Medical Center, predicted this will be “The best convention in the history of the party. I know that when I was working so hard to get it, I kept telling people over and over ‘If we can host the pope, we can certainly host the Democrats.’ ”
And once it’s over, then what? A vacation?
She wishes. “There’s a woman who runs Denver Health, named Dr. Patricia Gabow, who is going to be expecting me back to work very soon.”
In addition to the delegates, other party faithful at the brunch included Tom and Noel Congdon, Chris Gates, Ron and Naomi Montoya, Selena Dunham, Chris Meza and Brian Jacobson, Rollie Heath and Dr. Morris Clark.

Pictures taken at the Colorado Delegates Brunch can be viewed at denverpost.com/seengallery

Denver Post Society Editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com

Disclosure: I was raised to look for the good no matter how much bad abounds.
Which is why I’m refusing to get all bent out of shape about the long lines and equipment malfunctions that, at several vote centers, turned Tuesday’s election into an ordeal.
I’m not saying that standing in line is fun; as a matter of fact, I don’t like it at all. But I have to agree with what Mayor John Hickenlooper said this afternoon when we ran into each other in the Denver Newspaper Agency building lobby: Adversity isn’t necessarily bad.
“It was like a blizzard,” Hickenlooper said. “People were coming together and bonding.”
That’s how it was around noon Tuesday at Central Christian Church on Cherry Creek Drive South. Perfect strangers were talking to each other, and it didn’t take long for all the war stories to morph into other, more pleasant, topics.
The fellow who arrived fuming because the vote center most convenient to his workplace had a 2.5-hour wait was soon talking to the woman behind him about all the good restaurants in nearby Cherry Creek North that served lunch. The 20-somethings ahead of me hadn’t known each other before standing in line to vote, but soon discovered they had a shared interest in skiing, especially downhilling on the slopes at Winter Park.
And had I known I’d run into so many people I know, I’d have worn something other than a ratty old sweatshirt and jeans. Maybe even put on makeup and combed my hair.
In the 40 minutes it took me to sign in and vote, I saw former Denver Nugget Chuck Williams, Denver Art Museum supporter Judy Robins and the chairman of the Central City Opera board, Ed Nichols.Selena Dunham voted early near her Aurora home, but waited patiently at Central Christian while her mom cast her ballot. Michelle Toltz was leaving just as I entered, and Lynda Dalton, a past president of the Central City Opera Guild did her civic duty just minutes before Ed Nichols arrived.
My friend Elizabeth Byrnes Crony of dovetail solutions told me of a similar situation at the church where she and hubby Ed Crony voted. Though their wait extended for the better part of two hours, Elizabeth said that people around them were getting to know each other … talking instead of avoiding eye contact and plastering cell phones to their ears.
Someone even passed out Oreo cookies to make the wait as sweet as possible.